On the American left, Soviet history is often relegated to being a battleground for sectarian role-play or dismissed altogether. However, there are approximately 300 million people living in the fifteen countries that once made up the USSR today, and they haven’t reached “the end of history” just yet. This talk will survey current historical discussions on the Eastern European/Central Asian left such as left opposition to Stalin and his successors and national and gender-based oppressions in the Soviet Union. It will also introduce ongoing social and labor struggles in the region, with an emphasis on Russia, and strategic questions for all socialists fighting neoliberalism with a patriotic face.